


Ryan Ross and the Album That Wouldn't

by TheCharise98



Category: Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Gen, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-03
Updated: 2015-10-03
Packaged: 2018-04-23 20:49:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4891780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCharise98/pseuds/TheCharise98
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan just wanted to make his debut solo album but an outside force keeps stopping him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ryan Ross and the Album That Wouldn't

Ryan had just wanted to make music. Ever since he was a young boy all he had wanted to do was be in a band and have thousands of fans sing back his lyrics. He had had that for a while with _Panic! At the Disco_ , but due to the sun and moon not aligning his time with them was cut short. He didn’t mind too much; being solo meant he had complete creative control and didn’t have to worry about disagreement among band mates.

Ryan decided to wait a couple years after leaving his previous band to start making music because he wanted to re-brand himself. He didn’t want to be famous because he used to be the guitarist for some band; he wanted to be famous because he was a good musician. By the time he released some demos most people had forgotten about him, and he couldn’t have been happier.

His troubles all started when he sat down in his home studio and started working on the lyrics for his debut album. He had written quite a bit, and was starting to form full songs in his head, when he heard scratching at his window. He stood up and opened the window to see what was making the noise, but when he looked there was nothing there. He was just about to shut the window when a strong breeze blew through his apartment a swept away all his lyrics sheets. He ran outside to try to save them, but it was too late! All his hard work was lost.

When he started rewriting everything he made sure that all of it was backed up on his computer so that he would never have to lose it all again. After a couple of weeks, he had almost made up for the progress he’d lost, and so he decided to take a little break. He checked his social media, and all his loyal fans were asking about the new album; so he assured them that he was working hard and it wouldn’t be long until he was done with the writing process. Then, as he was typing this out on his phone, a squirrel climbed through his open window and stepped all over the computer keyboard, somehow deleting everything. Ryan didn’t worry about it too much because he thought he could just restore it; but then, almost as if it had read his mind, the squirrel stepped around more and emptied his recycle bin. Ryan broke down; this was twice that everything he had created was completely lost right in front of him, and it was right after he had promised his fans that music was coming soon.

He left his apartment to go for a walk and clear his mind. He found himself at a local coffee shop and decided that it would be a good place to clear his mind. He sat at a table near a window and stared out of it, vacantly. He noticed a fluffy tailed squirrel watching him and he had the strange urge to wave at it. When he did he was overwhelmed by this thought, or more accurately a feeling and he just knew that this squirrel was called Ricardo. He also felt like he knew this squirrel and that it knew him, too. Ryan shook his head; he was being ridiculous! There was no way this squirrel knew him. He assured himself that he was just under a lot of stress and needed a nice long break. He walked home but every time he passed a squirrel he had the same feeling: Ricardo is a friend.

Months passed and his album was coming nicely. He had taken about a week off to compose himself and get some well needed rest, but he didn't wait too long before going straight to work on his album. He was finally making some real progress. He was almost finished with the writing and was even started to record a little, but he was still a little unsettled because he started noticing squirrels all over the place. He knew there was no reason that this should bother him, or even notice at all, but every time he saw one he had that same feeling he got in the cafe, and he felt like there was something bigger going on.

For the most part the squirrels didn't do much, but they would sometimes mess with what he was doing, causing him to be slightly delayed, but he was becoming smarter and wouldn't let them do too much damage.Then one night he woke up to something furry on his face and the smell of smoke in the air. He jumped up and realized that the furry thing was a squirrel. He threw it off of himself and ran out of his bedroom to find his whole apartment on fire, but what he noticed more was that dozens of squirrels were crawling all over his apartment, knocking flammable stuff over, thus causing the fire to spread. Ryan looked into his home studio to see if he could save anything, but it was too late, everything was already engulfed in flames and he barely had enough time to get himself out.

By the time the fire department came and put the flames out, everything Ryan owned was destroyed, including all of his album. He called his best friend, Dan, and asked to stay with him. Dan agreed immediately and drove to pick Ryan up.

"Dude, what happened?" Dan asked as they drove, "The cops said that the fire was caused by negligence, but that doesn't seem like you, Ryan."

"The fire wasn't an accident," he replied quietly.

"Wait, what? Ryan, why did you set your apartment on fire?" Dan asked with a shocked expression on his face.

"I didn't start it!" Ryan spat, "They did."

"Who are they?" Dan was concerned, "Ryan, what are you talking about?"

"Them! The one's who keep messing with my album!" Ryan said like it was the most obvious thing. "They don't want me to finish it and I don't know why."

"Who's keeping you from making your album?"

"Ricardo!" Ryan yelled.

"You don't know anyone named Ricardo, Ryan." Dan said calmly, "Look it's been a really stressful day for you and I think you need some rest."

"I saw them do it, Dan. At first I thought they were just messing with me, but after tonight I think they might be trying to kill me."

"Ryan, I promise no one is trying to kill you." Dan sighed, "Let's get home so you can rest."

"You don't know everything that's happened." Ryan whispered to himself.

While Ryan was staying with Dan, he refused to let Ryan work because he felt like Ryan had worked himself to exhaustion and was now starting to break down. Ryan desperately wanted to believe that he was right but even in the safety of his friend's home he could not escape Ricardo, although they were being more subtle now. At first Ryan didn't understand why they had slowed down with their attacks, but then he realized that since the night of the fire he had not been on his own. He started following Dan around, never letting himself be alone for too long, because he knew that as long as someone else was around the squirrels would not make another move. Ryan was becoming visibly stressed. Everywhere he went he saw squirrels watching him, waiting for the moment he was finally alone. He knew it was only a matter of time before they finally got him alone and finally caught up to him, but he was still trying to delay that day for as long as possible.

One day Dan went out to get groceries and insisted that Ryan stay home because he didn't think Ryan's fear of being alone was healthy. Ryan knew that this would be the day Ricardo would finally get to him; so he made sure to tell his friend goodbye because he didn't know if he'd ever see him again.

Ryan sat on his bed and waited for the squirrels to realize that he was alone. It wasn't long before he heard a familiar scratching at the window. He opened it and a few squirrels crawled in and started to stare at him.

“Well, I'm completely alone now, so you can do whatever you want to me.”

The squirrels just continued to stare at him.

“Look, I know I can't stop this from happening, so I'm not gonna try to fight.”

The squirrels didn't move.

“What the hell do you want from me?” he screamed at them.

They stopped staring at him and ran towards the door. He followed them because he knew that that was what they wanted him to do. They left the building and headed down the street. He followed them for a couple of hours before they had completely left the city and started walking in the woods. They led him to an opening on the side of a mountain so small he had to get on his hands and knees so get through. He knew that once he crawled through that hole his life as he knew it would be over, but he was oddly calm about it.

He got on all fours and crawled through the hole. The passage opened into a huge cave filled with hundreds of squirrels. The walls were lined with torches so he could actually see the stalactites and stalagmites that made the cave look glorious. He was so caught up in the beauty of the cave that he almost didn't notice the throne on the far side of the room, but when he did his jaw dropped. It was a giant chair made of broken bottles, cans, and other litter, but rather than looking sad or dirty, it looked as if it was actually made for a king.

He stepped forward and as he did the squirrels parted a way for him leading up to the throne. He stopped walking when he reached it because he didn't dare sit down. The squirrels' eyes were all on him when the biggest squirrel Ryan had ever seen emerged form the crowd carrying Ryan's hard drive. He was almost in tears when he accepted the gift; his album was saved from the fire.

One by one every squirrel approached him and sat a gift at his feet. They gave him everything from half-eaten pizzas to broken pieces of jewelry. Then the fluffy tailed squirrel that Ryan saw in the cafe walked up to him with a paper in his mouth. Ryan took it and couldn't hold back his tears – because it was his lost song lyrics. This squirrel had saved them and now Ryan would be able to finish his album.

Ryan finally realized that this was all for him: the cave, the throne, the gifts; everything they had done was just preparing him for this moment. As Ryan took his rightful place on the throne he looked into the eyes of his subjects and knew that Ricardo was a hive-mind and he was their king.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> lmao I wrote this for school


End file.
